Spitzer Space Telescope Poster

The Spitzer Space Telescope, launched in 2003, on a mission to become NASA’s premier infrared light observatory. It offered astronomers an unprecedented infrared view of the universe, allowing us to peer into regions of space that are hidden from optical telescopes with unprecedented clarity and sensitivity. One of NASA’s Great Observatories, Spitzer discovered a ring of Saturn, studied some of the farthest galaxies, and identified two of the most distant supermassive black holes ever discovered, among other accomplishments in its 16 years of operation.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Milky Way as a barred spiral galaxy – a work in progress

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)

An unusual disk of quartz dust around a main sequence star

A research team of Japanese astronomers led by Dr. Hideaki Fujiwara (Subaru Telescope) has discovered a main-sequence star that is surrounded by a rare disk of quartz dust. Collisions of planetesimals, building blocks for planets, may have produced the dusty quartz ring during planet formation around the star. Based on observations with the AKARI and Spitzer infrared space telescopes, this recently discovered, intriguing feature of a stellar system may open new doors for research on the mineralogical nature of extrasolar planetary systems.

Illustration of the HD 15407A System Based on Observations from AKARI and Spitzer, showing the dusty quartz disk orbiting the star. Credit: University of Tokyo and NAOJ